Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film will be called “The Dark Knight Rises” and though the Gotham City auteur isn’t ready to reveal the villain of his 2012 film, he did eliminate one of the big contenders: “It won’t be the Riddler,” Nolan said.

Tom Hardy was solid in INCEPTION, had an icy presence as the foil to CAPTAIN PICARD in the STAR TREK: NEMESIS movie and has already been cast as the lead in the upcoming MAD MAX remake/reboot; MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Watching him go head to head with CHRISTIAN BALE in a third NOLAN directed BATMAN movie sounds very interesting indeed..

Zack Snyder has been chosen to direct the new installment of Superman for Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. Snyder was on a short list of directors that I recently revealed met with the studio as well as producers Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas. Other choices at the time included helmers Tony Scott, Matt Reeves, Jonathan Liebesman, and Duncan Jones.

Said Snyder:

“I’ve been a big fan of the character for a long time, he’s definitely the king of all superheroes, he’s the one. It’s early yet, but I can tell you that what David and Chris have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I’ve always felt he was kind of awesome. I’ll finish Sucker Punch and get right at it.”

Also from Snyder:

“I defintely expressed my love for the character and interest in seeing him treated right. The character deserves to be loved. It’s his time.”

Also an update on the villian that SUPERMAN will be facing in the film:

Goyer is writing the script, which is rumored to have, like “Superman Returns,” a Richard Donner Superman connection. In the movie’s case, it’s a villain connection: General Zod.

Snyder proved without a doubt his understanding of epic comic book characters in the super hero world with his very underrated and unduly criticized take on ‘WATCHMEN’. ‘300’ was also a fantastic translation of the FRANK MILLER retelling as was the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. The upcoming SUCKER PUNCH and the animated LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE look impressive from a distance… Throw in the producing savvy of one CHRISTOPHER NOLAN and SUPERMAN could very well top THE DARK KNIGHT in terms of story and all around amazingness.

A tall order? Sure. But these are two of the best visionaries out there right now so if anyone were be able to leap tall stories in a single bound it would be them.

“It’s becoming inevitable, I’ll put it that way,” says Nolan. “I feel myself falling into it, I guess. And getting it all figured out and I’m pretty excited about what we’re doing so… If I haven’t announced it, I think that people probably all know at this point that I’m doing it.”

And:

“I think you can at this point, yes [I will be directing BATMAN 3].”

According to Sir MICHAEL CAINE who is expected to reprise his role as Bruce Waynes mentor/butler Alfred, filming will –

“probably start in May next year…”

And finally:

Chris [Nolan] and co-writer Jonathan Nolan are not telling anyone who the villain will be in the new film.

THRALL WORLD would love to see Nolan tackle the KNIGHTFALL storyline so we would say BANE!! But the whole point of Nolan’s so-far incredible BATMAN retelling was the YEAR ONE BATMAN and BANE didn’t show up on in GOTHAM until Year 10 (???) or something like that.

DARREN ARONOFSKY: reportedly in the running as director of the new SUPERMAN movie

Source: Heatvision
Lots of noise about the upcoming SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL movie being produced by CHRISTOPHER NOLAN. Hot topic is who will direct? THRALL WORLD posted a handful of leading contenders a couple of days ago that included DUNCAN JONES, JONATHAN LIEBESMAN, MATT REEVES, TONY SCOTT, and ZACK SNYDER.

Here’s the latest:

The derby to helm the Christopher Nolan-produced Man of Steel pic has become the talk of the town. Nolan is knee-deep in the selection process, and he and producer/wife Emma Thomas will be heavily involved in the movie, so he’s looking for a director who is able to handle the elaborate production and willing to collaborate.

“Willing to collaborate” is new. A bigger role for Nolan as the movie is realized. This can only be a good thing.

BEN AFLLECK was apparently on the short list:

..extremely popular at Warners after making “The Town,” a critical and box-office hit. But according to insiders, the actor-director — who, ironically, once portrayed the actor who played Superman on TV in “Hollywoodland” — met about “Superman” last week but is nolonger pursuing it.

DARREN ARONOFSKY also:

..riding high on buzz generated by his upcoming “Black Swan,” is still in active talks, according to sources. But it’s early.

Nolan has already started meeting with candidates and will submit his choice to the studio within the next few weeks.

Warner Bros and Legendary have to get the picture made by 2012, because the studio stands to lose certain rights to the iconic character in 2013 after a judge ruled favorably on behalf of the heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel.

Christopher Nolan’s Inception has earned an impressive $753 million worldwide and now the filmmaker reveals that a video game is possible too.

“We are looking at doing is developing a videogame based on the world of the film, which has all kinds of ideas that you can’t fit into a feature film,” Nolan said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about and are looking at doing long term, in a couple of years.”

“It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story. And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”

On working with Superman screenwriter David Goyer (screenwriter for THE DARK KNIGHT, BATMAN BEGINS, JUMPER, and all three BLADE movies as well as director of BLADE: TRINITY):

“[Goyer] basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get [Supermand producer (and Nolan’s wife)] Emma [Thomas] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.”

On the new Batman sequel:

“Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third [Batman] film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story.”